Best Leveling Pet

Post by Moonking1983

In your opinion, which pets are the best for leveling? I keep hearing boars are, but they dont really hit hard. Any thoughts?

Post by Lolmobile

Boars are best for twink pvping, not for leveling. You can't go wrong with cats, and there are several nice looking cats you can tame at around 20, like humar the pridelord (he roars!)or the ghost saber in darkshore. They are pretty reliable for dps and protecting you from those big bad elites you come across, plus at level 32 you can teach them dash, speedy cat!

Post by sheepskin

Boar and bear for leveling.

Post by Moonking1983

Boars are best for twink pvping, not for leveling. You can't go wrong with cats, and there are several nice looking cats you can tame at around 20, like humar the pridelord (he roars!)or the ghost saber in darkshore. They are pretty reliable for dps and protecting you from those big bad elites you come across, plus at level 32 you can teach them dash, speedy cat!

Thanks. I recently got my hands on a ghost saber. Took 9 of those stupid figurines to summon one, and he almost killed me. :)

Post by Sabellius

Boar and bear for leveling.

I leveled my dwarf hunter with a bear for the sake of looks (I tamed the rare white bear in Dun Morogh) and flavor. It was an awful leveling pet, but I enjoyed it anyhow.

Boars are great for the early charge/stun, but this is far better in PvP than PvE.

The correct answer to this question is: Ravager, Cat or Raptor. In that order.

Post by Slokov

Boars are the best leveling pet. They have great health and armor and hold aggro like a twinked warr. They eat anything and do better DPS then most realize. Gore is a focus dump and as long as your boar has focus, he's hitting hard. Ravagers, cats, and raptors are awesome DPS but lacking everywhere else.

But really, any pet (besides the stupid caster ones) will be fine to level with. There isn't THAT much advantage in one pet over another most of the time. So just get a pet that you like and have fun.

Post by Sabellius

Boars are the best leveling pet. They have great health and armor and hold aggro like a twinked warr. They eat anything and do better DPS then most realize. Gore is a focus dump and as long as your boar has focus, he's hitting hard. Ravagers, cats, and raptors are awesome DPS but lacking everywhere else.

But really, any pet (besides the stupid caster ones) will be fine to level with. There isn't THAT much advantage in one pet over another most of the time. So just get a pet that you like and have fun.

I find that the DPS decrease on boars makes them hold aggro far worse than a cat/raptor/ravager. The thing about boars is Charge, but that becomes marginal once those other pets can learn Dash.

Post by sheepskin

Did I miss something here? When did boars lose out to dps pets for level grinding? +9% AR and +4% HP accounts for a lot. More dmg mitigation = less downtime between mobs. Not to mention boars can tank multiples like frikken champions. Someone mentioned Gore as well, which is very nice pet ability. I used Bellygrub for the longest time and she rocked the socks off of my cat when it came to solo grinding quests/levels.

Bears I can somewhat understand, not having a movement speed ability. But their dmg mitigation bonuses are just as nice for tanking mobs and reducing downtime.

I find that the DPS decrease on boars makes them hold aggro far worse than a cat/raptor/ravager. The thing about boars is Charge, but that becomes marginal once those other pets can learn Dash.

I'm not understanding. Are you not training growl? Boars can learn dash as well, though I still prefer Charge. It has a greater speed increase, as well as a nice stun. Just don't send you're pet in from 100 yards away.

Post by hammonjj

I actually didn't discover birds until 70. Their AOE ability is GREAT for multi-tanking. If I had to go back and re-level my hunter, then I would absolutely snag one of those!

Post by Sabellius

Did I miss something here? When did boars lose out to dps pets for level grinding? +9% AR and +4% HP accounts for a lot. More dmg mitigation = less downtime between mobs. Not to mention boars can tank multiples like frikken champions. Someone mentioned Gore as well, which is very nice pet ability. I used Bellygrub for the longest time and she rocked the socks off of my cat when it came to solo grinding quests/levels.

Bears I can somewhat understand, not having a movement speed ability. But their dmg mitigation bonuses are just as nice for tanking mobs and reducing downtime.

I find that the DPS decrease on boars makes them hold aggro far worse than a cat/raptor/ravager. The thing about boars is Charge, but that becomes marginal once those other pets can learn Dash.

I'm not understanding. Are you not training growl? Boars can learn dash as well, though I still prefer Charge. It has a greater speed increase, as well as a nice stun. Just don't send you're pet in from 100 yards away.

I've leveled up a few hunters in this game, the first with the boar. The second with a bear (pure flavor concern) and now one with a cat. My wife is also playing a hunter (a few levels ahead of me) and we've both noticed a great increase in her pet's DPS and aggro-holding abilities by switching to a raptor. I have noticed no survivability issues with the cat.

If you're leveling up as a hunter, you're speccing BM anyhow (well, almost certainly). You thus get a hefty amount of survivability just from talents. If you watch your pet's health and occasionally purposefully pull aggro to yourself (which you should do anyhow, as balancing aggro can keep a mob from attacking properly), you will find that you will quest and grind easier with a DPS pet. In addition, you don't have to level a DPS pet as well just to feel like you're getting the most out of instances or early BGs. I wouldn't have said this two years ago, when boars were a much easier choice. Some may still find the relative ease of boars to make them the best.

And not training Growl? A free skill that makes my pet infinitely more useful?

Don't be insulting.

Post by Slokov

Boars are the best leveling pet. They have great health and armor and hold aggro like a twinked warr. They eat anything and do better DPS then most realize. Gore is a focus dump and as long as your boar has focus, he's hitting hard. Ravagers, cats, and raptors are awesome DPS but lacking everywhere else.

But really, any pet (besides the stupid caster ones) will be fine to level with. There isn't THAT much advantage in one pet over another most of the time. So just get a pet that you like and have fun.

I find that the DPS decrease on boars makes them hold aggro far worse than a cat/raptor/ravager. The thing about boars is Charge, but that becomes marginal once those other pets can learn Dash.

I have to use cower on my boar to have any chance of pulling aggro from him. You forget that Charge ups the attack power of their first attack quite a bit, so their intitial aggro gain is pretty awesome. With the focus gaining powers of BM, they always have focus to do Gore non stop.

Post by Slokov

I actually didn't discover birds until 70. Their AOE ability is GREAT for multi-tanking. If I had to go back and re-level my hunter, then I would absolutely snag one of those!

Agreed. Bats, owls, and birds multi tank very well but don't forget about the gorillas as well. I just wish the low level Dragonhawks weren't "caster" pets with the inferior stats. Otherwise, they would be the best pet to level up with.

Post by Sabellius

I have to use cower on my boar to have any chance of pulling aggro from him.

This is not a feature.

You forget that Charge ups the attack power of their first attack quite a bit, so their intitial aggro gain is pretty awesome

No, I don't forget. Look again, I've leveled with a boar.

Prowl is just as effective at this, and your mention of constant Gore is simply irrelevant, as cats/raptors/ravagers have constant claw/gore/bite but with bigger numbers. Especially once you get the crit-increase talents, they really begin to shine in terms of holding aggro. And as for initial burst, cats have Prowl... and the dmg bonus on prowl outclasses the AP burst from Charge.

Post by Krillz95

I'd say Gorillas are a good lvling pet, i've lvled whit it from 45-80 and i thought it was great, It hold the aggro, does good dps and best of all is Thunderstomp, so **** good ^^

Post by crazyfish72

Snail

Post by Tigerstripes203

Why has this thread been bumped from like 9 months ago?

Post by Cilantro

I'd say find a pet that works with your play style and one you like, then you can't go wrong. At lvl 10 I got my cat and used it all the way to 80 (well, changed around lvl 30 for one in SGV that I loved the look of). Never had a problem with the cat holding aggro and being able to take 3-4 mobs at once, although it did require more management of my pet than say a Gorilla might with thunderstomp. Once you get Intimidation, then BW, you can use each one as a nice taunt on any adds get a little aggro built up on the cat and then volley the mobs once they are all down about 50% health.

I did try a Gorilla and a Bear, although they would have worked fine I didn't like either as well. The gorilla just didn't seem to have the survivability of my cat, then again it was a different play style which I just didn't care for. *shrug* Go with what you like best.

Post by mrfoughtforever

All tenacity pets (can) have thunderstomp.

Post by designationzero

Well I got myself a bear for the thunder stomp + swipe and it can't seem to hold aggro for the old AoE grind. I am thinking of just getting a DPS pet see if killing them one at a time is fast than AoE killing then trying to get my pet to peel em off me once I snag aggro.

Post by squidleyhog99

If you're going Beastmaster, get a Devilsaur ASAP. Mine hits like a Mack truck and I just sit back. It's like having my own personal tank.